# Pages vs PDF Expert

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pages at none against PDF Expert's 12. Pages also leads on review sentiment (59% vs 45%). PDF Expert's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months) and chart position (#64 vs unranked). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. PDF Expert sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Pages asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Pages against 4.7 for PDF Expert. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 573K and 216K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 59% of Pages's written reviews are positive against 45% of PDF Expert's.

Pages ships an update every 3 months, PDF Expert fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 13, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Pages | PDF Expert |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.6 (573K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pages-create-documents/id361309726/reviews) | **[4.7 (216K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-expert-editor-and-reader/id743974925/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **573K** | 216K |
| Positive reviews | **59.2% of reviews** | 45.5% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | **Fortnightly** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | **#64** |
| Size | 683 MB | 295 MB |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | **16.0** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Apple Canada, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/284417353) | [Readdle Technologies Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/285035419) |

## What reviewers say

### Pages

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pages-create-documents/id361309726)

Create visually appealing documents with a wide range of templates and editing tools. Enhance your work with multimedia, track changes, and collaborate seamlessly. Offers advanced features for writing, design, and presentation.

**Highlights:** Apple-designed templates, Add images, video, audio, Track changes and comments, Screen View for mobile editing, Interactive EPUB creation, Drawing and annotation with Apple Pencil, Writing Tools for AI assistance

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 💻 Versatile writing app
- 🎨 Excellent creative features
- 🤝 Collaborative capabilities
- 📚 Great for writing books/stories
- 🏫 Useful for school/work documents

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional glitches and crashes
- 🔍 Difficult to find/organize documents
- 🖋️ Frustrating cursor and text editing
- 🔄 Inconsistent sync and file management
- 🔢 Limited font and formatting options

**Reported bugs**

- Documents disappearing or failing to save
- Keyboard freezing and unresponsive typing
- Formatting issues when importing/exporting files
- Compatibility problems with older devices/OS versions

**Requested features**

- Add more font and formatting options
- Improve cursor and text editing controls
- Streamline document organization and search
- Enhance sync and offline editing capabilities
- Integrate grammar/spelling correction tools


### PDF Expert

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-expert-editor-and-reader/id743974925)

**Currently charting:** #64 Top Grossing · Productivity, #206 Top Free · Productivity (US App Store)

This app allows you to edit, annotate, fill out forms, and convert PDF documents. It offers AI-powered summarization and analysis, along with tools to merge, sign, and protect your files. Work seamlessly across Apple devices with a user-friendly interface.

**Highlights:** Edit PDF text and images, Annotate and highlight PDFs, Fill out PDF forms, Convert files to and from PDF, AI-powered summarization and analysis, Merge and combine PDF files, Sign documents with e-signatures

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| PDF Expert Premium Trial | $9.99 | per month |
| PDF Expert Premium No Trial | $9.99 | per month |
| PDF Expert for Education | $39.99 | per year |
| PDF Expert Premium | $49.99 | per year |
| PDF Expert Premium New | $49.99 | per year |
| PDF Expert Premium Existing | $49.99 | per year |
| PDF Expert – Premium Editing | $49.99 | per year |
| PDF Expert Mac & iOS Pro | $79.99 | per year |
| PDF Expert Mac & iOS | $79.99 | per year |
| PDF Expert Basic | $9.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Fast and responsive
- 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
- 💡 Powerful annotation and editing tools
- 🔒 Seamless cloud integration
- 📚 Excellent for reading and organizing PDFs

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
- 🔒 Subscription model for advanced features
- 🔒 Inconsistent pricing and feature changes
- 🔍 Cluttered and confusing UI in latest update
- 🔍 Reduced customization options for annotations

**Reported bugs**

- Corrupted PDFs after editing
- Sync issues with cloud storage providers
- Unexpected loss of annotations and edits
- Unreliable performance on older iPad models

**Requested features**

- Improved palm rejection for Apple Pencil
- Customizable toolbar and annotation presets
- Better integration with other productivity apps
- More flexible file management and organization
- Ability to create fillable PDF forms


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Pages free?

Pages is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is PDF Expert free?

PDF Expert is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Pages or PDF Expert?

PDF Expert is rated higher. Pages averages 4.6 out of 5 from 573K ratings, while PDF Expert averages 4.7 from 216K ratings.

### Do Pages or PDF Expert have ads?

Neither Pages nor PDF Expert shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Pages or PDF Expert?

Pages ships an update every 3 months, and PDF Expert fortnightly. Most recently, Pages was updated on October 13, 2026 and PDF Expert on October 13, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*